This scene takes place directly after the lead man-ape learns to use a bone as a tool for smashing skulls. He leads his tribe in revenge against other hominid tribe that attacked them earlier in the scene. once they finish slaughtering the other tribe, triumphantly, the tribe's leader throws his bone up in the air as the scene shifts via match cut to a space station. The scene is significant becaus eit establishes the dawn of man: when man differentiated tiself from all other hominid species to become the dominant species on Earth. This tribe, very early humans, demonstrated their superiority through the use of tools as weapons to enact their will against others. It is implied that because of the leader's discovery of tools, man grew and evolved into the space-faring race present in the rest of the film.
The whole scene is shown in an eye-level mid-shot, where the lead man-ape is usually at the center of the frame. The lighting fairly high-key, mostly daylight, with some shadows coming from the mountain. This helps to set the tense tone of the scene. The sound in this scene is just animal noises and sound effects. There is no dialogue in the scene because it's just a bunch of animals (or men in animal suits). The only constant sound is the screeching of the man-apes and the sound effect of the bones cracking the rival tribe's skulls.
The mise-en-scène is simple for this scene because it is only a bunch of animals gathered around a watering hole. The décor of the scene is just a valley, with a watering hole, covered in rocks, sand, craters and full of animals. The costume is quite elaborate, however: It is several dozen men in man-ape suits that look quite like apes and also several in cheetah suits. The man-apes' fur is black or dark brown, with sand sticking to their feet and the bottom of their legs. The location of the scene is around the watering hole, although, the very last shot of the scene is a space station outside Earth's atmosphere. The lighting is a mix of high-key and low-key, mostly high-key because it is day-light, but some low-key because of the intense shadows casted by the mountain near the watering hole. The cinematographer uses wide shots exclusively throughout this scene to bring an epic, grand essence that allows this scene to apply not just to the dawn of "a man" but the "dawn of man", mankind as a whole.
This grand cinematography is reminiscent of the grandness of a symphony or an opera. In this way, Kubrick demonstrated that he valued the feeling and mood of a scene over what the story of the scene actually was. Though this scene is fairly insignificant within the whole film, it stands as a prologue, an origin of man, just like the prologue of a great piece of music, introducing the players (man in this film, usually instruments in a musical work), establishing the mood, and creating a base rhythm and melody for the work. The meaning of this scene does not come into full fruition until later in the film, where the black monolith, that inspired the lead man-ape to venture out of his cave and pick of the bone, is explained. The chanting of the apes is like music, it is constant with a beat and measure. Though it is not a fill type sound, as it changes slightly with every part, the sound of the apes does act as music, a score for the scene, which besides these sound effects, has no real score or music. Also, the beating of the bones in smashing the rival tribe's skulls acts as a piece of music because it is a constant, repetitive, strong piece that really displays the mood of the work through its quick beats from one ape, then pause, then the next ape starts beating a rival. This continues for quiet a while until the leader declares (through his actions) that they have won: they defeated the rival tribe and have regained the watering hole. Also, the match cut from the bone to the space station is like the transition between movement so fa symphony, especially like the transition between movements 3 and 4 of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, "Ode to Joy". This transition is from a heated, tense scene of domination to a quieter scene about space. It is peaceful as a piece by Mozart starts to play, ushering in the second part of the film.
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Scene 2:
This scene takes place directly after Dr. Floyd arrives at the space station on the way to the moon. He has some layover time before he must board his flight to the moon, so he agrees to have lunch with a friend. Before lunch, he video-chats his daughter, who's birthday is the next day. She is young, therefore, does not understand why her father cannot be there for her party. But, in the end, she understands what is going on and just smiles and giggles, talking about what she wants for her birthday. The scene is significant because it establishes the character of Dr. Floyd - his family, attitude, diction, and even how he thinks. This seemingly insignificant scene brings the film into a relatable territoy: before, it was epic science-fiction film, but this scene establishes the film as a study on humanity through the influence of the alien black monoliths.
Most of the scene is shown in an eye-level close-up shot, where the face of Dr. Floyd and the image of his daughter on the videophone. The lighting fairly high-key, because the room is mostly filled with artificial lights in the space station, with some shadows coming from the the wall behind Dr. Floyd. This helps to set the loving, light tone of the family scene. The sound in this scene is mid-tone dialogue and some quiet sound effects. The dialogue in this scene is just a conversation between a man and his daughter about her birthday. The mise-en-scène is simple for this scene because it is just a man talking to his daughter on videophone. The décor of the scene is just a some futuristic technology in a little booth with a window facing the moon on the outside. The costume is just the man and his daughter's clothing. The man is wearing and brown suit and his hair is brushed. The daughter is wearing a dark red sun dress with white lace collar and cuffs. He hair is brushed to the sides of her face. Both father and daughter have brown hair, but Dr. Floyd's hair has some grey scattered through it, especially on the sides. The location of the scene is in a AT&T videophone booth on a space station outside Earth's atmosphere, orbiting the moon. The lighting is a mix of high-key and low-key, mostly high-key because of the artificial lights on the space station, but some low-key because of the shadows casted by the wall behind Dr. Floyd's chair. The cinematographer uses close-up shots exclusively to highlight the "down to Earth" (both literally and figuratively) tone of this scene, where a man chats with his young daughter, who has a birthday soon after.
This intimate cinematography is reminiscent of the quite beauty of a sonata, like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, dedicated to his pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. In this way, Kubrick demonstrated that he valued the feeling and mood of a scene over what the story of the scene actually was. Though this scene has little to do with the plot of the film, it stands as an interlude, a quiet transitional piece that establishes characters (or new instruments in the case of music). It establishes the character of Dr. Floyd through all of his actions and his soft, subdued diction in the scene. The meaning of this scene is not apparent in the film, but it is further explained in the novelization by co-writer, Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey. In this scene, the sweet, innocent voice of Floyd's daughter is like upbeat choral music, similar to the "Waltz of the Flowers" from the score to The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It is sweet and innocent, like flowers or candy. I cannot put my flinger on why her voice makes me feel happy, but it is heart-warming. This is evidence that Stanley Kubrick really lived by the idea of making his films more like music - showing the progression of moods and feelings. He uses his daughter (Vivian Kubrick) to play Floyd's daughter because he recognizes the emotional connection of a daughter to her father. Also, FLoyd's soothing voice seems like the deep strings of cello music, reassuring and gentle, calming his daughter and encouraging her even though he cannot make it to her birthday or spend time with her because of his job. The sound effects also underscore the simple quaintness of this scene through there quiet, unobtrusive nature. It only occurs at the beginning of the scene, and most people do not even pick up on it, but there is something about these sound effects that make the scene believable, like watching a real conversation between a father and a daughter. This scene acts as an interlude between sterile space scenes that seem claustrophobic and emotionless compared to this quaint scene. It really does show the progression of moods and feelings, as Kubrick described when discussing his filmmaking. This scene does not really reveal anything about the story or theme, but it does show that the characters are human, real people with real emotions and relationships.
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2001: A Space Odyssey (Screening Day 2): Scene 3:
This scene takes place after Bowman forcibly re-enters the airless Discovery after trying to recover Poole's body from the vacuum of space. Bowman immediately goes into the control room and begins to pull out the chips containing HAL's memory and functions. As he removes them, HAL begins to revert to a simple computer, able to sustain the ship's functions and life support. The scene is significant because it fleshes out HAL as a dynamic character that changes from a rational computer to simply an artificial life by this scene. This scene paints HAL as an almost-human character that can feel fear and sadness. We learn that he likes music and has a moral compass, even though ti may point him into situations that cannot be easily navigated by logic and reason. This scene is really a scene about HAL and what he is psychologically, if not physically - sentient life.
The beginning of the scene is a ground-level, low-angel mid-shot of Bowman unscrewing HAL's control room. Once inside the control room, the cinematographer uses a combination of eye-level mid shots and wide shots to establish Bowman's location within the room and to show his progress in disconnecting HAL. The lighting fairly low-key, because the room is mostly filled with red fluorescent lights inside; Bowman and the rest of the room are shadowed by the lights coming from HAL's control panel.. This helps to set the dramatic, sterile atmosphere of HAL's domain. The sound in this scene is some mid-tone dialogue by Bowman and some quiet sound effects along with the fairly loud voice of HAL, first talking to Bowman, telling the man how "afraid" his is, and then singing the song "Daisy Bell", which his instructor taught him when he was first programmed. The dialogue in this scene is mostly HAL begging Bowman to stop and then there is a short conversation between HAL and Bowman where HAL asks if Bowman wants to hear his song and Bowman replies affirmatively. The mise-en-scène is simple for this scene because it is just a man walking into a control room and disconnecting chips from the control panel wall. The décor of the scene is some futuristic technology, including control panel walls, air-locks, a sealed control room, and vents The costume is just Bowman in his space suit and a green helmet that he borrowed from another spacesuit. Bowman is wearing an orange or red spacesuit with a green helmet; his hair is brown, but you cannot see it through his helmet. The location of the scene is HAL's control room in the middle of the spaceship Discovery, somewhere in space between Earth and Jupiter . The lighting is mostly low-key because of the red fluorescent lights in the room show deep shadows on Bowman and his clothing.There is some high-key lighting in the room outside the control room, where Bowman is unscrewing the entrance, but he quickly moves from this location at the beginning of the scene. The cinematographer uses eye-level mid-shots and wide-angle shots to show Bowman's location within the room and progress in disconnecting HAL. The low-key lighting highlights the drama of the scene where HAL proves that he is more than just a 9000 series computer, he is a free-thinking individual that can make decisions for himself based on his moral compass and knowledge of the situation, just as any truly dedicated, loyal, moral person would do when placed in HAL's situation.
One theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey is that the monolith can encourage the evolution and development of intelligent species through the mere knowledge of its existence, as seen when the man-apes take up arms to kill their rivals after finding the monolith planted in front of their cave. In the film, HAL is technology; he is intimate knowledge that can either be used to make life easier or to take a life. HAL evolved just like the man-apes when exposed to the knowledge of the monolith. Just knowing that the monolith exists and that he cannot tell the crew about it gave him a nervous breakdown that compromised the mission. This monolith is a divine force that is a catalyst for change in both man (man-apes) and man's technology (HAL 9000). Also, the use of the song "Daisy Bell" is quite interesting in the context of HAL's relationship with the astronauts. The song is about a man who is constantly being rejected by the woman he loves. Nevertheless, he continues to ask for her hand in marriage, citing how good they would look together and frequently proclaiming his love for her. In much the same way, Kubrick presents HAL. HAL is a sentient cognitive creature; the only problem is that he is a computer, and not really "alive". Because he is programmed to serve man, all he really wants is to do his best to help complete the mission of the DIscovery; however, when he learns that he cannot tell the astronauts of their mission's intent, he begins to break down. In the end, HAL suggests that he and Bowman would work well together and that they should complete the mission. Instead, Bowman disconnects HAL and goes on his merry way to Jupiter. Just like the man from the song, who loves a girl that expects a fancy marriage and transportation to their honeymoon in a carriage, HAL loves someone (man) who will not love him back because the man, Bowman, cannot understand HAL, whom he expects to act rationally. It is only when Bowman learns of HAL's distress that he truly understands what happened. Also, HAL becomes crazy because of his love and devotion for humanity, as the man in "Daisy Bell" did because of his love for his Daisy. Throughout the film, HAL is attempting to become human, not physically, but psychologically. First, he becomes nerotic. Next, he becomes suspicious and starts to postulate how to maintain the integrity of their mission. Then he becomes malicious, and those who have read Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics (first published in full in 1942, so Clarke and Kubrick would likely know of them) know that harming a human (as HAl did to Poole) violates the First Law of Robotics; therefore, HAL is a flawed robot. In a film all about how the monolith can instigate evolution, the human astronauts are oblivious to its effects on HAL, as it turns him from a logical, rational robot into what could be called an artificial human consciousness stored in a computer.
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Scene 4:
This is the closing scene of the film, where David Bowman has materialized in a Louis XVI-style bedroom. He keeps seeing versions of him self and then his point of view transfers from each one until he is a dying man laying in a bed. As he lays in the bed, a black monolith materializes at the foot of the bed and he reaches out for it. He is then reincarnated into a Star Child, an immortal fetus-like being enclosed in an orb of light. This entity then floats into EArth's orbit where it stays, gazing at the little blue planet. The scene is significant because it it the final scene of the film. This creates a dynamic and memorable ending that caps the true cinematic genius of Kubrick's vision. Also, it finishes the theme of evolution relating to the monoliths: every time a being reaches out to touch one of the monoliths, it begins to evolve. The man-ape evolved into a primitive hominid that could use tools. And now, a descendant of those man-apes, a human, evolved into an enlightened being that has ascended from a physical form to occupy a higher plane of existence.
The beginning of the scene is an eye-level, low-angel mid-shot of Bowman, an old man, lying in a bed, ready to accept death. It remains and eye-level mid-shot as the subject switches to the monolith at the foot of his bed. Finally, Bowman evolves into the Star Child, and the camera zooms to a close-up profile shot of his new form. Then the camera pans and zooms into the monolith, which becomes the space outside of Earth, where the Star CHild takes its place, watching the Earth, in a wide shot of both the immortal fetus-like entity and the planet which it watches, Earth.The lighting high-key inside of the bedroom; though, there is some shadows cast on the bak of Bowman's head from the headboard of his bed. This helps to portray the bright, epiphany-like moment of Bowman's ascension. Though high-key light is traditionally associated with less emotional scenes, and low-key light is associated with more dramatic scenes, the opposite is true here. The high-key light helps to take the focus away from the story and highlight the pure emotion of this scene. When the Star Child is in space, the light looks to be high-key because of the lack of shadows but the darkness of space makes this determination harder because the laws of light are different in the vacuum of space. The sound in this scene is some quite noises made by Bowman, some middle-level sound effects used for the monolith, and loud music used for the Star Child's re-entry into the space surrounding Earth. The symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss is used to represent this new evolution. It was used in the beginning of the film when the man-ape first learns to use tools for a similar purpose of depicting evolution. The mise-en-scène is a man lying in a bed, then turning into a giant fetus-like entity and traveling through a star gate in a monolith to take its place in the space outside of planet Earth.. The décor of the scene is a Louis XVI-style bedroom with marble columns, Baroque paintings, and elaborately designed linens and cloths strewn throughout the room. The furniture is ornate and sterile-looking, unlike the colorful warmth of the monolith's portal. The space around Earth is fairly barren with some stars and planets in the background and Earth in the foreground. The costume is an elderly Bowman in a white tunic or robe. The actor playing Bowman is wearing heavy make-up to look elderly and his hair is dyed whitish gray to show his age. The Star Child is not really wearing a costume, but it is a character, so this model is a fetus-like organism contained within a glowing orb of light. The location of the first section of the scene is the Louis XVI-style bedroom somewhere on the other side of the Jupiter monolith's star gate. The scene also takes place within the portal of another monolith and in the space around the planet Earth. The lighting is mostly high-key because the high key lighting helps the viewers focus on the emotions of the scene instead of the drama that the scene gives to the overall plot of the film.There is some shadows at the head of Bowman's bed, but they are probably coincidental, for they do not seem to add anything to the scene. The cinematographer uses eye-level mid-shots and to show Bowman's final moments before his transformation and eye-level close-ups to show detail of the new Star Child. The high-key lighting highlights the raw emotion of the scne where Bowman ascends to a higher plane of existence, but still is out there, looking over his home, Earth.
This scene expands upon the theme of evolution through encouragement. In the film, early hominids begin to dominate other species because of their contact with the black monolith of alien origins. This leads directly into the hominids' evolution into modern-day humans through their dominance using tools as weapons; this reflects humanity, a fairly war-like species that fights for dominance in a world that they already dominate. In this final scene, Bowman comes into contact with another monolith that causes him to evolve, tis time into a peaceful being, one that has ascended from mortal existence into the realm of enlightened immortality. The movie takes the opinion that humanity is not the final result of evolution, but only a period within the evolutionary cycle. The film shows that humanity has a future, devoid of its current trappings as a biological race with greedy intent to control the world. Instead, humanity can become watchers, peaceful beings who only observe the universe and enjoy the idea of life. This point in humanity's evolution will no longer suffer the greed and violence of our past, but with bask in the glory of life and everything's connection to the universe. Just like the alien beings who built the monoliths at the beginning of time, we will become one with the fabric of the universe, sewing are consciousnesses into the one blanket of knowledge and emotion. Also, the use of the musical piece "Sunrise" from Also sprach Zarathustra is a throwback to the beginning of the film when the man-apes developed tools, which lead to their evolution into man. The symphonic poem is a fanfare around the theme of Friedrich Nietzsche's Übermensch, or superman. The idea of Übermensch is that the goal of humanity is to strive to become a super-being, a being that has evolved passed the state of mortal man. Though the exact definition of an Übermensch varies, the Star Child could definitely be called one because it is essentially what happens to humanity after it ceases to be humanity.
This Star Child is the beginning of the future for humanity. In the later books by Arthur C. Clarke (co-writer of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and writer of the novels and source material) showed that several other humans, including Heywood R. Floyd and Frank Poole will ascend in much the same way as David Bowman, with his assistance. Also, HAL 9000 ascends along with these humans, which shows the potential for artificial life beyond the hyper-intelligent computers of the film. In this finally scene, the evolution of man is a symbol of the hope of humanity for a better future. The film is all about the exploration of the unknown. The future of humanity is just as unknown. Through Bowman's exploration of the monolith, he is also exploring the potential of humanity and of life as a whole. Through evolution, humanity can end all of its conflicts and forgo faults, bit at the same time, it will lose the individuality of being human. This is why, even in his ascended state as a Star Child, Bowman returns to Earth, so that he can maintain his individuality and remain himself. Through his transformation, he maintained his memories, so he proves that even when humanity has progressed pasted all that made them human, there will still be memories to hold a record of the past. In the ever-evolving cycle of life, we cannot dwell on the past, but we must remember it, and we cannot fear the future: we must live to our best ability in the present in order to deserve our best possible future and evolve into something more awesome than we ever could have imagined.
2001: A Space Odyssey (Screening Day 1):
This scene takes place directly after the lead man-ape learns to use a bone as a tool for smashing skulls. He leads his tribe in revenge against other hominid tribe that attacked them earlier in the scene. once they finish slaughtering the other tribe, triumphantly, the tribe's leader throws his bone up in the air as the scene shifts via match cut to a space station. The scene is significant becaus eit establishes the dawn of man: when man differentiated tiself from all other hominid species to become the dominant species on Earth. This tribe, very early humans, demonstrated their superiority through the use of tools as weapons to enact their will against others. It is implied that because of the leader's discovery of tools, man grew and evolved into the space-faring race present in the rest of the film.
The whole scene is shown in an eye-level mid-shot, where the lead man-ape is usually at the center of the frame. The lighting fairly high-key, mostly daylight, with some shadows coming from the mountain. This helps to set the tense tone of the scene. The sound in this scene is just animal noises and sound effects. There is no dialogue in the scene because it's just a bunch of animals (or men in animal suits). The only constant sound is the screeching of the man-apes and the sound effect of the bones cracking the rival tribe's skulls.
The mise-en-scène is simple for this scene because it is only a bunch of animals gathered around a watering hole. The décor of the scene is just a valley, with a watering hole, covered in rocks, sand, craters and full of animals. The costume is quite elaborate, however: It is several dozen men in man-ape suits that look quite like apes and also several in cheetah suits. The man-apes' fur is black or dark brown, with sand sticking to their feet and the bottom of their legs. The location of the scene is around the watering hole, although, the very last shot of the scene is a space station outside Earth's atmosphere. The lighting is a mix of high-key and low-key, mostly high-key because it is day-light, but some low-key because of the intense shadows casted by the mountain near the watering hole. The cinematographer uses wide shots exclusively throughout this scene to bring an epic, grand essence that allows this scene to apply not just to the dawn of "a man" but the "dawn of man", mankind as a whole.
This grand cinematography is reminiscent of the grandness of a symphony or an opera. In this way, Kubrick demonstrated that he valued the feeling and mood of a scene over what the story of the scene actually was. Though this scene is fairly insignificant within the whole film, it stands as a prologue, an origin of man, just like the prologue of a great piece of music, introducing the players (man in this film, usually instruments in a musical work), establishing the mood, and creating a base rhythm and melody for the work. The meaning of this scene does not come into full fruition until later in the film, where the black monolith, that inspired the lead man-ape to venture out of his cave and pick of the bone, is explained. The chanting of the apes is like music, it is constant with a beat and measure. Though it is not a fill type sound, as it changes slightly with every part, the sound of the apes does act as music, a score for the scene, which besides these sound effects, has no real score or music. Also, the beating of the bones in smashing the rival tribe's skulls acts as a piece of music because it is a constant, repetitive, strong piece that really displays the mood of the work through its quick beats from one ape, then pause, then the next ape starts beating a rival. This continues for quiet a while until the leader declares (through his actions) that they have won: they defeated the rival tribe and have regained the watering hole. Also, the match cut from the bone to the space station is like the transition between movement so fa symphony, especially like the transition between movements 3 and 4 of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, "Ode to Joy". This transition is from a heated, tense scene of domination to a quieter scene about space. It is peaceful as a piece by Mozart starts to play, ushering in the second part of the film.
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Scene 2:
This scene takes place directly after Dr. Floyd arrives at the space station on the way to the moon. He has some layover time before he must board his flight to the moon, so he agrees to have lunch with a friend. Before lunch, he video-chats his daughter, who's birthday is the next day. She is young, therefore, does not understand why her father cannot be there for her party. But, in the end, she understands what is going on and just smiles and giggles, talking about what she wants for her birthday. The scene is significant because it establishes the character of Dr. Floyd - his family, attitude, diction, and even how he thinks. This seemingly insignificant scene brings the film into a relatable territoy: before, it was epic science-fiction film, but this scene establishes the film as a study on humanity through the influence of the alien black monoliths.
Most of the scene is shown in an eye-level close-up shot, where the face of Dr. Floyd and the image of his daughter on the videophone. The lighting fairly high-key, because the room is mostly filled with artificial lights in the space station, with some shadows coming from the the wall behind Dr. Floyd. This helps to set the loving, light tone of the family scene. The sound in this scene is mid-tone dialogue and some quiet sound effects. The dialogue in this scene is just a conversation between a man and his daughter about her birthday. The mise-en-scène is simple for this scene because it is just a man talking to his daughter on videophone. The décor of the scene is just a some futuristic technology in a little booth with a window facing the moon on the outside. The costume is just the man and his daughter's clothing. The man is wearing and brown suit and his hair is brushed. The daughter is wearing a dark red sun dress with white lace collar and cuffs. He hair is brushed to the sides of her face. Both father and daughter have brown hair, but Dr. Floyd's hair has some grey scattered through it, especially on the sides. The location of the scene is in a AT&T videophone booth on a space station outside Earth's atmosphere, orbiting the moon. The lighting is a mix of high-key and low-key, mostly high-key because of the artificial lights on the space station, but some low-key because of the shadows casted by the wall behind Dr. Floyd's chair. The cinematographer uses close-up shots exclusively to highlight the "down to Earth" (both literally and figuratively) tone of this scene, where a man chats with his young daughter, who has a birthday soon after.
This intimate cinematography is reminiscent of the quite beauty of a sonata, like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, dedicated to his pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. In this way, Kubrick demonstrated that he valued the feeling and mood of a scene over what the story of the scene actually was. Though this scene has little to do with the plot of the film, it stands as an interlude, a quiet transitional piece that establishes characters (or new instruments in the case of music). It establishes the character of Dr. Floyd through all of his actions and his soft, subdued diction in the scene. The meaning of this scene is not apparent in the film, but it is further explained in the novelization by co-writer, Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey. In this scene, the sweet, innocent voice of Floyd's daughter is like upbeat choral music, similar to the "Waltz of the Flowers" from the score to The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It is sweet and innocent, like flowers or candy. I cannot put my flinger on why her voice makes me feel happy, but it is heart-warming. This is evidence that Stanley Kubrick really lived by the idea of making his films more like music - showing the progression of moods and feelings. He uses his daughter (Vivian Kubrick) to play Floyd's daughter because he recognizes the emotional connection of a daughter to her father. Also, FLoyd's soothing voice seems like the deep strings of cello music, reassuring and gentle, calming his daughter and encouraging her even though he cannot make it to her birthday or spend time with her because of his job. The sound effects also underscore the simple quaintness of this scene through there quiet, unobtrusive nature. It only occurs at the beginning of the scene, and most people do not even pick up on it, but there is something about these sound effects that make the scene believable, like watching a real conversation between a father and a daughter. This scene acts as an interlude between sterile space scenes that seem claustrophobic and emotionless compared to this quaint scene. It really does show the progression of moods and feelings, as Kubrick described when discussing his filmmaking. This scene does not really reveal anything about the story or theme, but it does show that the characters are human, real people with real emotions and relationships.
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2001: A Space Odyssey (Screening Day 2):
This scene takes place after Bowman forcibly re-enters the airless Discovery after trying to recover Poole's body from the vacuum of space. Bowman immediately goes into the control room and begins to pull out the chips containing HAL's memory and functions. As he removes them, HAL begins to revert to a simple computer, able to sustain the ship's functions and life support. The scene is significant because it fleshes out HAL as a dynamic character that changes from a rational computer to simply an artificial life by this scene. This scene paints HAL as an almost-human character that can feel fear and sadness. We learn that he likes music and has a moral compass, even though ti may point him into situations that cannot be easily navigated by logic and reason. This scene is really a scene about HAL and what he is psychologically, if not physically - sentient life.
The beginning of the scene is a ground-level, low-angel mid-shot of Bowman unscrewing HAL's control room. Once inside the control room, the cinematographer uses a combination of eye-level mid shots and wide shots to establish Bowman's location within the room and to show his progress in disconnecting HAL. The lighting fairly low-key, because the room is mostly filled with red fluorescent lights inside; Bowman and the rest of the room are shadowed by the lights coming from HAL's control panel.. This helps to set the dramatic, sterile atmosphere of HAL's domain. The sound in this scene is some mid-tone dialogue by Bowman and some quiet sound effects along with the fairly loud voice of HAL, first talking to Bowman, telling the man how "afraid" his is, and then singing the song "Daisy Bell", which his instructor taught him when he was first programmed. The dialogue in this scene is mostly HAL begging Bowman to stop and then there is a short conversation between HAL and Bowman where HAL asks if Bowman wants to hear his song and Bowman replies affirmatively. The mise-en-scène is simple for this scene because it is just a man walking into a control room and disconnecting chips from the control panel wall. The décor of the scene is some futuristic technology, including control panel walls, air-locks, a sealed control room, and vents The costume is just Bowman in his space suit and a green helmet that he borrowed from another spacesuit. Bowman is wearing an orange or red spacesuit with a green helmet; his hair is brown, but you cannot see it through his helmet. The location of the scene is HAL's control room in the middle of the spaceship Discovery, somewhere in space between Earth and Jupiter . The lighting is mostly low-key because of the red fluorescent lights in the room show deep shadows on Bowman and his clothing.There is some high-key lighting in the room outside the control room, where Bowman is unscrewing the entrance, but he quickly moves from this location at the beginning of the scene. The cinematographer uses eye-level mid-shots and wide-angle shots to show Bowman's location within the room and progress in disconnecting HAL. The low-key lighting highlights the drama of the scene where HAL proves that he is more than just a 9000 series computer, he is a free-thinking individual that can make decisions for himself based on his moral compass and knowledge of the situation, just as any truly dedicated, loyal, moral person would do when placed in HAL's situation.
One theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey is that the monolith can encourage the evolution and development of intelligent species through the mere knowledge of its existence, as seen when the man-apes take up arms to kill their rivals after finding the monolith planted in front of their cave. In the film, HAL is technology; he is intimate knowledge that can either be used to make life easier or to take a life. HAL evolved just like the man-apes when exposed to the knowledge of the monolith. Just knowing that the monolith exists and that he cannot tell the crew about it gave him a nervous breakdown that compromised the mission. This monolith is a divine force that is a catalyst for change in both man (man-apes) and man's technology (HAL 9000). Also, the use of the song "Daisy Bell" is quite interesting in the context of HAL's relationship with the astronauts. The song is about a man who is constantly being rejected by the woman he loves. Nevertheless, he continues to ask for her hand in marriage, citing how good they would look together and frequently proclaiming his love for her. In much the same way, Kubrick presents HAL. HAL is a sentient cognitive creature; the only problem is that he is a computer, and not really "alive". Because he is programmed to serve man, all he really wants is to do his best to help complete the mission of the DIscovery; however, when he learns that he cannot tell the astronauts of their mission's intent, he begins to break down. In the end, HAL suggests that he and Bowman would work well together and that they should complete the mission. Instead, Bowman disconnects HAL and goes on his merry way to Jupiter. Just like the man from the song, who loves a girl that expects a fancy marriage and transportation to their honeymoon in a carriage, HAL loves someone (man) who will not love him back because the man, Bowman, cannot understand HAL, whom he expects to act rationally. It is only when Bowman learns of HAL's distress that he truly understands what happened. Also, HAL becomes crazy because of his love and devotion for humanity, as the man in "Daisy Bell" did because of his love for his Daisy. Throughout the film, HAL is attempting to become human, not physically, but psychologically. First, he becomes nerotic. Next, he becomes suspicious and starts to postulate how to maintain the integrity of their mission. Then he becomes malicious, and those who have read Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics (first published in full in 1942, so Clarke and Kubrick would likely know of them) know that harming a human (as HAl did to Poole) violates the First Law of Robotics; therefore, HAL is a flawed robot. In a film all about how the monolith can instigate evolution, the human astronauts are oblivious to its effects on HAL, as it turns him from a logical, rational robot into what could be called an artificial human consciousness stored in a computer.
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Scene 4:
This is the closing scene of the film, where David Bowman has materialized in a Louis XVI-style bedroom. He keeps seeing versions of him self and then his point of view transfers from each one until he is a dying man laying in a bed. As he lays in the bed, a black monolith materializes at the foot of the bed and he reaches out for it. He is then reincarnated into a Star Child, an immortal fetus-like being enclosed in an orb of light. This entity then floats into EArth's orbit where it stays, gazing at the little blue planet. The scene is significant because it it the final scene of the film. This creates a dynamic and memorable ending that caps the true cinematic genius of Kubrick's vision. Also, it finishes the theme of evolution relating to the monoliths: every time a being reaches out to touch one of the monoliths, it begins to evolve. The man-ape evolved into a primitive hominid that could use tools. And now, a descendant of those man-apes, a human, evolved into an enlightened being that has ascended from a physical form to occupy a higher plane of existence.
The beginning of the scene is an eye-level, low-angel mid-shot of Bowman, an old man, lying in a bed, ready to accept death. It remains and eye-level mid-shot as the subject switches to the monolith at the foot of his bed. Finally, Bowman evolves into the Star Child, and the camera zooms to a close-up profile shot of his new form. Then the camera pans and zooms into the monolith, which becomes the space outside of Earth, where the Star CHild takes its place, watching the Earth, in a wide shot of both the immortal fetus-like entity and the planet which it watches, Earth.The lighting high-key inside of the bedroom; though, there is some shadows cast on the bak of Bowman's head from the headboard of his bed. This helps to portray the bright, epiphany-like moment of Bowman's ascension. Though high-key light is traditionally associated with less emotional scenes, and low-key light is associated with more dramatic scenes, the opposite is true here. The high-key light helps to take the focus away from the story and highlight the pure emotion of this scene. When the Star Child is in space, the light looks to be high-key because of the lack of shadows but the darkness of space makes this determination harder because the laws of light are different in the vacuum of space. The sound in this scene is some quite noises made by Bowman, some middle-level sound effects used for the monolith, and loud music used for the Star Child's re-entry into the space surrounding Earth. The symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss is used to represent this new evolution. It was used in the beginning of the film when the man-ape first learns to use tools for a similar purpose of depicting evolution. The mise-en-scène is a man lying in a bed, then turning into a giant fetus-like entity and traveling through a star gate in a monolith to take its place in the space outside of planet Earth.. The décor of the scene is a Louis XVI-style bedroom with marble columns, Baroque paintings, and elaborately designed linens and cloths strewn throughout the room. The furniture is ornate and sterile-looking, unlike the colorful warmth of the monolith's portal. The space around Earth is fairly barren with some stars and planets in the background and Earth in the foreground. The costume is an elderly Bowman in a white tunic or robe. The actor playing Bowman is wearing heavy make-up to look elderly and his hair is dyed whitish gray to show his age. The Star Child is not really wearing a costume, but it is a character, so this model is a fetus-like organism contained within a glowing orb of light. The location of the first section of the scene is the Louis XVI-style bedroom somewhere on the other side of the Jupiter monolith's star gate. The scene also takes place within the portal of another monolith and in the space around the planet Earth. The lighting is mostly high-key because the high key lighting helps the viewers focus on the emotions of the scene instead of the drama that the scene gives to the overall plot of the film.There is some shadows at the head of Bowman's bed, but they are probably coincidental, for they do not seem to add anything to the scene. The cinematographer uses eye-level mid-shots and to show Bowman's final moments before his transformation and eye-level close-ups to show detail of the new Star Child. The high-key lighting highlights the raw emotion of the scne where Bowman ascends to a higher plane of existence, but still is out there, looking over his home, Earth.
This scene expands upon the theme of evolution through encouragement. In the film, early hominids begin to dominate other species because of their contact with the black monolith of alien origins. This leads directly into the hominids' evolution into modern-day humans through their dominance using tools as weapons; this reflects humanity, a fairly war-like species that fights for dominance in a world that they already dominate. In this final scene, Bowman comes into contact with another monolith that causes him to evolve, tis time into a peaceful being, one that has ascended from mortal existence into the realm of enlightened immortality. The movie takes the opinion that humanity is not the final result of evolution, but only a period within the evolutionary cycle. The film shows that humanity has a future, devoid of its current trappings as a biological race with greedy intent to control the world. Instead, humanity can become watchers, peaceful beings who only observe the universe and enjoy the idea of life. This point in humanity's evolution will no longer suffer the greed and violence of our past, but with bask in the glory of life and everything's connection to the universe. Just like the alien beings who built the monoliths at the beginning of time, we will become one with the fabric of the universe, sewing are consciousnesses into the one blanket of knowledge and emotion. Also, the use of the musical piece "Sunrise" from Also sprach Zarathustra is a throwback to the beginning of the film when the man-apes developed tools, which lead to their evolution into man. The symphonic poem is a fanfare around the theme of Friedrich Nietzsche's Übermensch, or superman. The idea of Übermensch is that the goal of humanity is to strive to become a super-being, a being that has evolved passed the state of mortal man. Though the exact definition of an Übermensch varies, the Star Child could definitely be called one because it is essentially what happens to humanity after it ceases to be humanity.
This Star Child is the beginning of the future for humanity. In the later books by Arthur C. Clarke (co-writer of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and writer of the novels and source material) showed that several other humans, including Heywood R. Floyd and Frank Poole will ascend in much the same way as David Bowman, with his assistance. Also, HAL 9000 ascends along with these humans, which shows the potential for artificial life beyond the hyper-intelligent computers of the film. In this finally scene, the evolution of man is a symbol of the hope of humanity for a better future. The film is all about the exploration of the unknown. The future of humanity is just as unknown. Through Bowman's exploration of the monolith, he is also exploring the potential of humanity and of life as a whole. Through evolution, humanity can end all of its conflicts and forgo faults, bit at the same time, it will lose the individuality of being human. This is why, even in his ascended state as a Star Child, Bowman returns to Earth, so that he can maintain his individuality and remain himself. Through his transformation, he maintained his memories, so he proves that even when humanity has progressed pasted all that made them human, there will still be memories to hold a record of the past. In the ever-evolving cycle of life, we cannot dwell on the past, but we must remember it, and we cannot fear the future: we must live to our best ability in the present in order to deserve our best possible future and evolve into something more awesome than we ever could have imagined.
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